Terrifying Mask and Wig of Alexander Peden, Which Is Made of Leather With Real Teeth and Human Hair

This mask could come straight from a horror film, originally it even had false teeth stitched into its mouth. It is made of leather, with real teeth fixed in the mouth and human hair attached to the forehead. The mask is today in the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.

This mask was first discovered in the 1840s in a cottage near Cumnock. Along with the wig and a sword it had just been handed down from generation to generation as a family heirloom. This grim mask dates from around 1660-1670 and was made to disguise the identity of Alexander Peden “The Prophet of the Covenant”. Also known simply as “Sandy”.

Alexander “Sandy” Peden was born in Ayrshire, Scotland around 1626. He went to Glasgow University before becoming minister in New Luce in 1659. In 1662, Peden was one of the 300 ministers who were forced to leave their churches after the Restoration of Charles II and the beginning of the persecution. Immediately, he began preaching in the fields all over Southern and Central Scotland, and he soon became one of the best known field preachers.

The fact that Peden was so well known however made him one of the most wanted men in Scotland by the government. He started wearing a mask when he was traveling about so that the soldiers wouldn’t recognize him. Even this wasn’t going to keep him safe forever though, so in 1670 he fled to Ireland where he stayed until 1673. He spent part of the time in Armagh. Peden preached to many, many people in the fields, and condemned the rest of the Presbyterian ministers in Ireland as sinful for not doing so themselves. Around this time, those Presbyterians who still held to the Solemn League and Covenant began to hold separate society meetings for fellowship. Peden came to Ireland often and his preaching helped strengthen these Irish Covenanters.

When Peden returned to Scotland in 1673 he was arrested and spent the next four years imprisoned on the Bass Rock with forty other Covenanters. The year after he was released, he was back in Ireland for a short time, during which he again condemned the mainline Presbyterian ministers, this time because they sent letters to the government saying that they did not approve of the battle of Bothwell Bridge which the Covenanters in Scotland had just fought at.

In 1682, he returned to Ireland where he hired himself out as a farm worker to a farmer called William Steel and his wife, who lived in Glenwherry, between Ballymena and Larne. After each day’s work, Peden would sleep in the barn with the Steel’s young servant boy. After two days of this however, the servant boy complained to his mistress that this new Scottish man didn’t actually sleep, but instead spent all night praying by name for the suffering members of the Church of Scotland. At tea time that night she got her husband to ask Peden if he was a minister, and he said that he was, and that he wasn’t ashamed of it. After this they didn’t make him sleep in the barn or work in the fields again, but instead they got him to preach and minister to those in the surrounding area.

Peden stayed at Glenwherry until 1685, before going back to Scotland, where he preached his final sermon. He died in January 1686. Forty days later, in a final attack on his memory, government troops were sent to dig up his body and bury it two miles away out of disrespect.

(via National Museums Scotland and Reformation History)

Scold’s Bridle, a Metal Mask Was Used to Punish Mainly Women Found Gossiping, Nagging, Brawling With Neighbors or Lying

If a wife talked too much during the Middle Ages, you were often forced to wear metal torture devices on their face to serve as punishment by their husbands.

18th century scold’s bridle in the Märkisches Museum Berlin.

Scold’s bridle is a metal mask meant to bring upon public humiliation. It originated from Britain and spread to other European Countries and was used to punish and torture women till about the 1800s. Scold’s bridle was assigned by the local magistrate to women found gossiping or quarrelling.

The device was an iron muzzle in an iron framework that enclosed the head (although some bridles were masks that depicted suffering.) A bridle-bit (or curb-plate), about 2 inches long and 1 inch broad was slid into the mouth and either pressed down on top of the tongue as a compress or used to raise the tongue to lay flat on the wearer’s palate. This prevented speaking and resulted in many unpleasant side effects for the wearer, including excessive salivation and fatigue in the mouth.

Made in many different styles, some husbands allowed their wives to pick the style they preferred and even adorned them with scrolls or gold paint. A lighter weight chain could be used to ease the burden on the neck and shoulders while being chained to the wall of their home.

This item is one of the more disturbing objects in Henry Wellcome’s collection. This example has a bell on top to draw even more attention to the wearer, increasing their humiliation. It was used until the early 1800s as a punishment in workhouses. (Credits: Science Museum London)

16th-century Scottish branks. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, Scotland.

‘The 'Bishop’s branks’ of St. Andrews.

17th century Dunfermline branks.

First recorded in Scotland in 1567, the branks were also used in England, where it may not have been formally legalized as a punishment. The kirk-sessions and barony courts in Scotland inflicted the contraption mostly on female transgressors and women considered to be rude or nags or common scolds.

Branking (in Scotland and the North of England) was designed as a mirror punishment for shrews or scolds; women of the lower classes whose speech was deemed “riotous” or “troublesome”; — often women suspected of witchcraft — by preventing such “gossips or scolds” from speaking. This also gives it its other name ‘The Gossip’s Bridle’.

An Iron scold’s bridle mask used to publicaly humiliate.

A Belgian Iron scold’s bridle or branks mask, with bell, used to publicly humiliate and punish, mainly women, for speaking out against authority, nagging, brawling with neighbours, blaspheming or lying.

It was also used as corporal punishment for other offences, notably on female workhouse inmates. The person to be punished was placed in a public place for additional humiliation and sometimes beaten. Though primarily used on women, the branks were at times used on men as well.

When the branks was placed on the “gossiper’s” head, they could be led through town to show that they had committed an offence or scolded too often. This was intended to humiliate them into “repenting” their “riotous” actions. A spike inside the gag prevented any talking since any movement of the mouth could cause a severe piercing of the tongue. When wearing the device, it was impossible for the person either to eat or speak. Other branks included an adjustable gag with a sharp edge, causing any movement of the mouth to result in laceration of the tongue.

The brank, or scold’s bridle, originated around the early 17th century. The metal device passed over and round the head and was fastened at the back of the neck by a small padlock. The bridle-bit - a flat piece of iron, about two inches long and one inch broad, went into the mouth, and kept down the tongue by its pressure.

A branked scold in New England, from an 1885 lithograph.

In Scotland, branks could also be permanently displayed in public by attaching them, for example, to the town cross, tron or tolbooth. Then, the ritual humiliation would take place, with the miscreant on public show. Displaying the branks in public was intended to remind the populace of the consequences of any rash action or slander. Whether the person was paraded or simply taken to the point of punishment, the process of humiliation and expected repentance was the same. Time spent in the bridle was normally allocated by the kirk session, in Scotland, or a local magistrate.

Quaker women were sometimes punished with the branks for preaching their doctrine in public places.

Scold’s bridle – Medieval instrument against women chatter.

Staged photo of a woman in the Middle Ages scold’s bridle.

The show’s title piece (all works 2014) depicts five stiffly corseted women wearing scold’s bridles. The artist’s predilection for hiding the faces of his figures deprives them of identities and safely relegates them into the anonymity of fiction. Peering out from behind their shackles, the eyes of these women urge us to look past any assumptions regarding their mindless acceptance of fashion or subservience. They stare at the viewer with accusation, resignation and defiance. Citation: “Magenta Magazine – Lauchie Reid.” The Magenta Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Dec. 2015.

The scold’s bridle did not see much use in the New World, though Olaudah Equiano recorded that it was commonly used to control Virginia slaves in the mid-18th century. White men and women were usually placed in the stocks as an equivalent punishment.

46 Color Pics That Show What a Traditional Scottish Wedding Looked Like in the Early 1980s

On the wedding day the bride will look resplendent in her white gown, shoes, veil and tiara, carrying her flower bouquet and possibly a lucky horseshoe. To make her traditional Scottish wedding complete the bride will be wearing something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.

The “something old” will most probably be something handed down from her mother to symbolise the passing down of wisdom. The “something new” will be a gift, the “something borrowed” will be from a married couple, for good luck, and “something blue” is usually a blue garter, as a sign of love and modesty.

The groom will cut a dash in his full Highland dress, consisting of the kilt (with clan tartan if applicable) & kilt pin, sporran with chain strap, tartan or white hose, jacket, shirt, bow tie, sgian dhubh (black knife) tucked in the hose, and gillie brogue shoes.

The bridesmaid dresses will have been chosen by the bride, in colours that she feels will compliment her dress, and the best man and the father of the bride will usually be in full Highland dress, making it altogether a pretty colourful affair.

A traditional Scottish wedding in 1982

After the happy couple have exchanged vows and said “I do”, the wedding is well underway and ready to move up a gear. It's time for photographs to be taken and then the bride follows the tradition of tossing her bouquet over her shoulder. If the bouquet is caught by a single woman, she will be the next to marry, according to folklore.

At many of our Scottish weddings there will be a piper at the church door, to lead the bride and groom to their waiting car, and no doubt they will be showered with confetti or flower petals as they make their way.

They go to a location they have chosen for more photographs for the wedding album, and the guests will gather in the reception venue, to await the happy couples' arrival.

Here below is an amazing found photo collection from vintage ladies that shows a traditional Scottish wedding in 1982.

 Groom and best man checking where the bride is

Groom and best man

Proud father of the bride

Proud father of the bride

 Beaming groom

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Aerial View Over Edinburgh circa 1920, One of the Best Aerial Photographs Ever Taken

Taking photos from great heights is all the rage these days. Which makes sense, given how easy it now is to get your hands on a camera-equipped drone, or commandeer a satellite. But after seeing this photo of Edinburgh, taken by Alfred Buckham around 1920, we’re not sure there’s much need to keep snapping. Put your lens caps on, pilots: the most majestic aerial photo was taken nearly a century ago!

Alfred G. Buckham, Aerial View over Edinburgh, c. 1920, courtesy of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

From the earliest days of manned flight, photographers sought to capture the strange and unfamiliar beauty of the view from above. Whether it was from balloons, airships or later, fixed-wing aircraft, enterprising pioneers overcame formida­ble technical obstacles to create striking new images of the world below. It was, however, through warfare in the twentieth century that aerial photography came to prominence. Alfred Buckham’s remarkable body of work in the air had its origins in a brief, eventful career with the Royal Navy in the last phase of the First World War, but he was also able to develop a highly personal approach that combined his skills in documentary reconnaissance with an artist’s feeling for mood and atmosphere.

Born in London, Buckham’s first ambition was to become a painter but after seeing an exhibition of work by J.M.W. Turner at the National Gallery he apparently destroyed all his own work. He turned instead to photography and in 1917 was enlisted into the photographic division of the Royal Navy. He was stationed first at Turnhouse near Edinburgh and was later transferred to the Grand Fleet based at Rosyth on the Firth of Forth. On his missions he took two cameras, one for his technical photography for the Navy and the other for personal use. Flying over Scotland he took numerous photographs of cloud formations, hilly landscapes and views of towns, often seeking out extremes of weather to add drama to his subject matter.

“It is not easy to tumble out of an aeroplane, unless you really want to, and on considerably more than a thousand flights I have used a safety belt only once and then it was thrust upon me. I always stand up to make an exposure and, taking the precaution to tie my right leg to the seat, I am free to move about rapidly, and easily, in any desired direction; and loop the loop and indulge in other such delights, with perfect safety.” – Alfred Buckham

Buckham’s aerial view of Edinburgh has become one of the most popular photographs. The view is taken from the west, with the castle in the foreground and the buildings of the Old Town along the Royal Mile gradually fading into a bank of mist with the rocky silhouette of Arthur’s Seat just visible in the distance. Buckham was always keen to capture strong contrasts of light and dark, often combining the skies and landscapes from separate photographs to achieve a theatrical effect. As he does here, he some­times collaged or hand-painted the form of a tiny aircraft to enhance the vertiginous effect. Yet accuracy remained a concern; Buckham later professed a particular fond­ness for his view of Edinburgh, ‘because it presents, so nearly, the effect that I saw’.

In the early days of flight, aerial recon­naissance was a hazardous task. Buckham crashed nine times and in 1919 was discharged out of the Royal Navy as one hundred per cent disabled. However, he continued to practise aerial photography through the 1920s, and in 1931 he travelled to Central and South America to take photographs for an American magazine, a commission that resulted in a remarkable series of views of mountain ranges and snow-rimmed volcanoes. In his journals and in various magazine articles, Buckham conveyed a spirit of adventure and derring-do that is not for the faint-hearted or those with a fear of flying.

Alfred G. Buckham, Cloud Turrets, c. 1920, courtesy of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Alfred G. Buckham, Flying Boat over Sea, c. 1920, courtesy of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Alfred G. Buckham, R100, c. 1920, courtesy of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Alfred G. Buckham, Volcano. Crater of Popocatetl c. 1930, courtesy of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

(via the National Galleries of Scotland)

Rare Photographs of Edinburgh, Scotland From the 1840s

In 1840s Edinburgh, painter David Octavius Hill and engineer Robert Adamson formed the city’s first photography studio, which created thousands of images until Adamson’s sudden death. They are best known for their wonderful portraits, but over the course of their sadly short partnership they also created quite a few city views.

At a time when most photographers worked with daguerreotypes, Hill and Adamson used the negative-positive process, creating negatives on paper (calotypes) which could then be printed on salted paper. The Special Collections at the University of Glasgow holds large numbers of their original negatives, and their online collection provides digitally reversed positive images.

The photographs are wonderful not only as some of the earliest views of a beautiful city, but for the aesthetic of the early paper negative. Even with skill level like Hill and Adamson's, the process was still highly unpredictable. The photographs are imperfect--which is ultimately a testament to the incredible fact of their existence.

View of the Mound, 1843.

A view of the Old Town.

Edinburgh Castle and the Grassmarket.

View from Calton Hill, after October 1844.

The National Commerical Bank, George Street.

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44 Breathtaking Color Photos of Scotland in the Victorian Age

The following images show Scottish cities, towns and attractions during the 1890s - and in color. They were created using the Photochrom technique pioneered by Photoglob Zürich AG, which sees color manually added to black and white negatives.

The process was extremely time-consuming and required painstaking attention to detail, but the result was color postcards which captured the cities, moors, and ruined castles of Scotland with an impressive degree of verisimilitude, particularly at a time when true color photography was just being developed.

The Sands, Dumfries

High Street, Dumfries

Castle Street and municipal buildings, Aberdeen

Cathedral

St. Enoch's Station

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40 Amazing Portraits of People Who Lived in and Visited Scotland During the 1840s

The partnership of David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson is unequalled in the history of photography for its sophistication and impact. When they met in Edinburgh in 1843, Robert Adamson had set up the first studio in Scotland to work with William Henry Fox Talbot’s ‘calotype’ process. The calotype was a negative/positive form of photograph, capable of producing many prints, unlike the rival daguerreotype which is a single object. Hill was a painter and had started work on a large-scale picture, celebrating the founding of the Free Church of Scotland. They first met to see if Hill could use photography to aid the painting, but almost immediately discovered the potential excitements of photography. Fascinated by the process, Hill entered into partnership with Adamson within a few weeks.

Hill and Adamson’s photographs were mostly portraits of people who lived in and visited Scotland and are an active expression of Hill’s sympathy for and interest in people. Through chemical, optical and aesthetic experiment, they discovered how to make an awkward process express character, charm and beauty. Their work was completed in less than four years and the partnership ended with the tragedy of Robert Adamson’s death in 1848, at the age of 27.

David Octavius Hill with his daughter, Charlotte

Thomas Duncan, 1807 - 1845. Artist

Sandy (or James) Linton, his boat and bairns

George Combe, 1788 - 1858. Phrenologist

Mr Laing or Laine

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22 Rare Photos of St. Andrews, Scotland in the 1840s

John Adamson (1809-1870) was one of the pioneering photographic chemists in Scotland. He was born in Burnside, Fife, and studied medicine in St Andrews and Edinburgh. While developing his practice, he taught Chemistry and Natural Science at Madras College school (1837-40) and became interested in photography. He took the first successful calotype photograph in Scotland.

From 1838-70 he was the curator of the St Andrews Literary and Philosophical Society's Museum, where he and his brother Robert used photography to document the museum's acquisitions. He took up photography again after his brother's death in 1848 and taught Thomas Rodger.

Some of these images are original salted paper prints; these have experienced noticeably more deterioration with color shift and fading and losing detail and other fun stuff that happens when photos deteriorate. The others come from images of the negatives themselves, digitally transferred into positive images by the University of Glasgow Library. Paper negatives are more stable than salt prints, and much of the original detail and contrast is preserved. Originally, the salted paper prints would have looked more like the digitally altered images.

St. Andrews Cathedral and St. Rule's Tower. From negative.

The cathedral and tower, original salted paper print.

South Street, from negative.

St. Andrews Castle, salted paper print.

St. Andrews Castle. From negative.

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